If I could eat a single food every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it (in addition to meat) it would be ice cream. More specifically, this homemade frozen vanilla custard ice cream. Technically, ice cream and custard are two different beasts. Ice cream is made with cream and sugar, and must contain a certain percentage butterfat, while custard is cream, sugar, and egg yolks. Again, meeting the same butterfat requirements as ice cream, but also a percentage of yolk. But, I don’t get too hung up on the specifics because they’re both ice cream to me, just different types.
But, custard “style” is so creamy, thick, and absolutely lovely that is really is different than regular ole’ ice cream (I love you too ice cream!) It has such an old fashioned taste and I’m completely obsessed. It reminds me of Hanks Frozen Custard, an ice cream stand I used to go to all the time as a kid that has been in business since the 50’s. They exclusively make and churn frozen custard on site and it is out of this world. Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to make at home with some very basic ingredients.
Let this be my disclaimer: use the BEST quality ingredients as possible. While I believe this should always be the case, it is in recipes such as this where it’s minimal ingredients that quality makes all the difference in the world. Your milk should be full fat, your eggs from pastured birds with bright orange yolks, and your cream should be from cows (or goats) eating that summer grass. This will make all the difference in your frozen vanilla custard ice cream.
I like my custard to be subtly sweet with the help of a little raw sugar. Good cream will provide the custard with much of the sweetness on its own. I have tried recipes that called for double the amount of sugar I call for, and found it almost inedible. In my opinion, this combination provides a custard with the perfect amount of vanilla, right amount of sweetness, and oh so creamy taste.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk (cow or goats milk)
- 8 free range eggs – yolks separated
- 1/2 cup raw sugar (suit to your taste and cream sweetness! My cow’s cream is naturally much sweeter than when I purchased it previously, and so I use 1/4 cup now)
- 4 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 2 cups high quality heavy cream (**see note below)
Directions
- Add egg yolks and sugar to a medium saucepan (NOT over heat) and whisk until fully incorporated and lightened in color. Set aside.
- Add milk and vanilla paste to a separate saucepan over medium heat until it starts to steam. Don’t boil or simmer it.
- Temper the eggs by constantly whisking the yolk and sugar mixture and add heated milk a tablespoon at a time at first, working up to a gradual pour. Tempering heats up the eggs without scrambling them, so add very little initially and work your way up to the whole saucepan.
- Return milk/yolk/sugar mixture to stove over medium heat. Constantly stir with a rubber spatula until slightly thickened and coats the back of the spatula. Remove from heat.
- Add custard mixture to a sealed container and stick in the fridge. It needs to be completely chilled before using, the longer it sits in the fridge the better! It will be thicker, creamier, etc. Once it’s completely chilled, add the heavy cream and shake to combine.
- Bust out your ice cream maker that you still have yet to return back to your best friend, and add your vanilla custard base to the bowl. Remember to shake it up and get all that vanilla that has settled to the bottom! Allow to churn to your desired thickness, my sweet spot is 20-25 minutes.
- Put on your elastic pants, sit back, and prepare for the most delicious frozen vanilla custard ice cream you every consumed.
Happy Custard Eating,
